Mississauga approves $44 million program to encourage more affordable rental housing

Today, Mississauga City Council approved a Community Improvement Plan (CIP) with $44 million in funding to help get more affordable rental housing built citywide.

The aim of the CIP is to help quickly increase Mississauga’s supply of:

• Affordable and below-market rental units in multi-unit buildings
• Gentle density rental units such as basement apartments, garden suites, triplexes and fourplexes in lower density areas

The CIP will be implemented as a grant program. Applications will be accepted starting this fall through 2027 or until the program funding is fully allocated.

Market rents in Mississauga far exceed affordable rent levels for even moderate-income renters. Renter households require a yearly gross income of almost $100,000 to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the city. The City’s CIP will help developers, landowners and homeowners offset some of the costs required to deliver new units at affordable rates.

Mississauga’s CIP was developed in consultation with industry stakeholders whose input was instrumental in helping to shape the program. It is designed to work in tandem with funding sources from other levels of government for new market rental and affordable rental construction. Staff expect that the program will deliver over 300 new affordable rental and gentle density units over three years.

The CIP also sets the stage for two innovative housing solutions that could help to encourage more affordable rental units:

• Tax Increment Equivalent Grants which could be used, with Council approval, to help to offset a portion of the increased property tax associated with the redevelopment of multi-residential units.
• City Land Acquisition program to allow municipally-owned property to be acquired and sold at nominal or below-market rates for affordable housing projects.

The CIP will be funded, in part, through funds received from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund. In December 2023, the Government of Canada and the City of Mississauga announced a $112.9 million agreement to help deliver more homes and improve affordability.

More information about the CIP is available on the City’s website.

Background

A CIP is a tool under the Ontario Planning Act that allows municipalities to provide incentives such as grants and loans to help encourage development.

The focus of this CIP is to increase the supply of rental units affordable for moderate-income renter households earning $54,000 to $96,000 in household income. The CIP is not designed to deliver low-income units. Homes for low-income households are built and operated by the Region of Peel, the City’s municipal housing service manager.

The Affordable Rental Housing CIP is a key action under Growing Mississauga: An Action Plan for New Housing. The action plan identifies steps the City can take to get more homes built, streamline building approvals and make homes more affordable.

Quotes

I am committed to finding ways to get more rental housing built in Mississauga. It’s a key area of focus for our Council, City staff and my Housing Task Force. We must use every tool we have to get more homes built. I encourage every homeowner and developer who wants to build affordable rental units in Mississauga to come forward and take advantage of this incentive program. The time to get building is now! – Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish

This past December, our government reached an agreement with the City of Mississauga to provide nearly $113 million to fast track the construction of more than 35,200 homes over the next decade and support programs for affordable housing in our community. The City of Mississauga has been a supportive partner in this important work, and our collaboration will continue to make housing more affordable for those who need it the most in our city. – The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, Member of Parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville

The availability of affordable rental housing is a critical issue in Mississauga and financial incentives are a powerful tool to help stimulate construction. As we developed this program, we listened carefully to our industry partners. To address their feedback, we increased the total amount of grants available per unit. We are hopeful that this will help mitigate some of the financial hurdles developers face when bringing affordable units to market. – Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner, Planning and Building

Tags

• Housing
• Planning and Building